STARKVILLE — Before the final curtain closes on one of the greatest seasons in Mississippi State football history, casting calls are being held for 2015.
The auditions begin today.
With his team set for the first of eight practices in the next eight days to prepare it for the Orange Bowl, MSU coach Dan Mullen says his focus, at least early in the practices, will be to find players who will be able to help the Bulldogs make a similar run next season.
“We now have 30 practices to get ready for next season,” said Mullen, whose team will open the 2015 season Sept. 5 vs. Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. “That’s what making a bowl gets you. It gives you an opportunity to begin working for the next season. That means finding what we have in order to be ready for Southern Mississippi.”
While Mullen and his staff will be able to see the team take shape in the next week, MSU fans can do the same thing. For the first time this season, the Bulldogs are opening practice for the media and the public, as MSU’s first five Orange Bowl practices will be open to the public. Those open sessions begin at 4:55 p.m. today when the Bulldogs hit the field at the Seal Football Complex. Open practices also will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, 12:40 p.m. Sunday, 2:15 p.m. Monday, and at 10:05 a.m. Tuesday.
With a win against No. 12 Georgia Tech (10-3), MSU (10-2) would earn the first 11-win season in program history, but Mullen also has his eyes on the future.
“Going into these practices, it gives you an opportunity to get valuable reps,” Mullen said. “In bowl practices, these guys who have been in backup mode, or redshirt mode, they’ll suddenly look around and they’re getting first- or second-team reps. Then they will realize that next year this is going to be their spot. Instead of sitting on the bench as a redshirt, the bowl practice will be a wake-up call that now you’re right there in the thick of it. You’re either in the rotation or you are one snap from being in the rotation.”
To that end, Mullen hinted that the first few of his team’s 15 bowl practices will be spent rounding young players into shape, a valuable exercise for a team that starts 18 juniors or seniors.
“When we pull out the seniors, it’s a wake-up call for these young guys,” Mullen said. “A guy will realize ‘Hey, my time is right here. I am either a starter or I’m a play away.’ It’s a definite change.”
The next wave of Bulldogs features a freshman class that saw 14 of 19 newcomers sit out the season as redshirts. While that group, which includes talented prospects like tailback Aeris Williams and linebacker Gerri Green, can’t play in the Orange Bowl without losing their redshirt status, the freshmen will get extended looks in bowl practice to simulate their standing on next year’s team.
With 18 seniors graduating from this year’s team, plenty of opportunities for playing time should be available for newcomers.
The bowl practice also will provide ample opportunities for players who surged late in the season to continue that upward momentum. That includes tailback Ashton Shumpert, who earned 80 percent of his carries in the final four games. By the time the Egg Bowl arrived, Shumpert, a sophomore from Fulton, received more carries than starter Josh Robinson, who finished third in the conference in rushing yards (1,128).
“We will treat it a little like spring ball in that we are going to protect a lot of guys,” Mullen said. “Fans will get the chance to watch a lot of young guys as we continue to build the program for the future.”
MSU also will have to devote practice time to going against Georgia Tech’s triple option. Mullen said the team will turn to freshman quarterback Nick Fitzgerald in bowl practices to mimic the Yellow Jackets’ offense.
Fitzgerald, a 6-foot-5, 200-pounder from Richmond Hill, Georgia, rushed for over 1,000 yards as an option quarterback in high school.
“One of the challenges in facing that offense is simulating that in practice,” Mullen said. “Their guys execute it at such a high level, they coach it at such a high level, our guys will have a challenge re-creating that in practice to get ready for it in the game.”
More awards for McKinney
Continuing a week filled with accolades, MSU junior Benardrick McKinney became the first linebacker in school history to earn a nomination to the Walter Camp All-America Team when the squad was announced by the Walter Camp Football Foundation on Thursday afternoon.
McKinney, a second-team All-Southeastern Conference performer by the league’s media and a first-team All-SEC pick by the league’s coaches, was named a second-team Walter Camp All-American after a season that saw him lead MSU with 61 tackles. The Tunica native also had eight tackles for loss and three sacks and was the emotional leader for a defense that ranked ninth in the nation in points allowed (19.4). McKinney continues a three-year streak for Bulldogs on the Walter Camp team, joining second-teamer Gabe Jackson (2013) and first-teamer Johnthan Banks (2012).
Gray named to All-Freshman team
Freshman linebacker J.T. Gray, a 5-foot-11, 200-pounder from Clarksdale, was chosen as MSU’s lone representative on the SEC’s All-Freshman team, the league announced Thursday.
Gray, who didn’t play until MSU’s eighth game of the season against Arkansas, had nine tackles, including five on special teams. Gray is MSU’s first linebacker to be selected to the All-Freshman team since McKinney in 2012.
Prescott attends ceremony
Awards season continued for MSU’s best player, as Prescott attended the College Football Awards Ceremony Thursday night in Orlando.
Prescott was up for the Maxwell Trophy, given annually to the nation’s best offensive player, and the Davey O’Brien Trophy, given to the country’s best quarterback. Oregon’s Marcus Mariota won both, but Prescott earned screen time on ESPN’s broadcast.
“We expect to win and we expect to win big,” Prescott said in an interview. “It’s stark Vegas now.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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